Stoke Potter

It's him that makes it viable.

What is the issue at Sunderland?

The damage started before 1990, roll it back to 1980 and I'd say a certain decline in operational venues. Ellesmere Port, Barrow, Crayford, Canterbury, Boston, Halifax, Hull, Weymouth all disappeared in the 80's and do not have equivalent venues operating today. What happened in the 80's to turn people off and shut down so many tracks?

Reading the comments below that Oxfordmail article tells me the first thing you need is to educate some locals. You have a councillor (Linda Smith) spouting off that she's surprised people want it back because it's noisy! Someone should send her some professional info on the noise reduction that has been implemented in recent years in the sport. This is the sort of thing the BSPA should do but obviously that won't happen. You also have people commenting that it's polluting. Again some education about Methanol being clean burning/none polluting would be appropriate. For once Speedway is light-years ahead in that regard so it should play to that strength. Best of luck to everyone involved, I hope you get the Cheetahs back soon!

For those considering getting BT it may be worth looking at what Virgin package (if any) you could get hold of. I got a good deal last year to stay with Virgin where they gave me BT Sport for less than I was originally paying.

Interesting, are these figures available anywhere?

They'll use it as a deposit to buy Brandon, not!

Quite open to that, so tell us why Sky pulled out and why BT are keen to step in?

The question that needs to be is asked why have Sky pulled out of showing Speedway? Of course it will be nothing to do with the way the sport is run...

So, your first paragraph implies the collective members of the BSPA do not even have faith in their product! "What if we bought it and crowds declined?" If you don't have faith in your own product how do you expect anyone else to have faith in it? Fans, Sponsors, TV? That's laughable. Secondly , you repeatedly state that I don't get it. It's you and your BSPA chums (with notable exceptions) that don't get it. People do not want to watch processional racing on third rate tracks in third rate stadia. It makes a world of difference if the racing is of the highest level in decent (not even plush) surroundings. If that was ever achieved then you could market the hell out of it. I am fan of over 30 years standing and am neither new or naive. You answer to the Sky money again shows the stupidity of the promoters/BSPA, effectively wasting that money and with it the opportunity to develop the sport and it's infrastructure. Your replies repeatedly suggest that the structure of the sport/BSPA is incorrect, i.e. The BSPA is not setup to run/manage/acquire stadia. Well here's the thing, it should be, as that is how the sport will survive and prosper. It seems that our opinions will never be remotely the same but I thank you for coming on here and replying to people's various posts.

I'll start this reply by saying how sorry I am for the fans of Coventry, very sad news. One of the best Speedway stadiums in the country gone. Now I'll reply to your post. Why would the stadium in have a "short lifespan"? Correct I do not like the BSPA as in my opinion they are, for the most part, incompetent. The latest issue with Coventry being a good example. Please tell me what there is to like about the BSPA? The sport at the top level in this country cannot be a "low capital" sport and survive. You don't seem to get that. The lower divisions are the place for it to be "low capital". How long have Sky being pumping money into the sport and where has it gone? You will say it's been distributed to the various clubs. Ok, what has it been invested in? Or more accurately what has it been spent on? And how did the clubs finance those things prior to the Sky money? The tone of your post basically reveals that the sport will cease to exist in the near future. Is the Sky contract now in danger due to the loss of Coventry?

The BSPA are the custodians of the sport. They exist to ensure the future prosperity of the sport. Does anybody within the BSPA actually realise this?!! Most people with any knowledge of the situation actually realise the BSPA repeatedly fail massively in this obligation. I put a question back to you: Why did the RFL buy the lease for Odsal Stadium? Where did they get the money from for that? Some quotes from the article below: "Peter Hood, chairman of Bradford Bulls, adds: “This deal protects the club from the kind of attack which could see someone with little affinity for the Bulls acquiring it and the land for profit. “That pressure has now been removed, the ground is owned by the RFL and the future of Bradford Bulls is at Odsal where the majority of fans want us. This is excellent news for Bradford Bulls, for the Bradford District and for the sport.” The RFL already owns the ground of Bradford’s neighbours Keighley Cougars and has stakes in several other stadia. RFL chairman Richard Lewis comments: “This arrangement is absolutely the right thing to do because it safeguards the future of one of the sport’s most famous stadia. Odsal is famous throughout the world and it would be a tragedy were the venue to be lost to the sport in the way that other evocative rugby league venues have already been lost." From: https://www.pinsentmasons.com/en/media/published-articles/landmark-deal-secures-future-of-odsal-rugby-league-stadium/ Does this sound familiar???

The BSPA should buy Brandon. Obviously they won't...

Is that a bomb I see under the BSPA "establishment" ? I sincerely hope so.

I will clarify my comments... British Speedway tends to be boring and processional. The GP's are, for the most part, a class apart. The temporary tracks do not live up to the likes of Torun because they tend to shoved into arenas where they don't really fit. Belle Vue is easily the best track in the country, nothing comes close. There's a reason BV copied the likes of Torun and not Wolves! I have been to both Somerset and Scunthorpe and not been tempted back, they are better than most others but that's not saying much. Having seen the Swedish tracks on TV they appear to be better shaped and prepared than those in the UK.

Yes, quite obviously Speedway's problem is that it's boring. Most races are over by the back straight and you're lucky if you get one decent race a meeting! Most tracks are fundamentally flawed, too small and narrow. Fix the tracks! There's no point Marketing something that is, for the most part, tripe.

No meeting the week of 31/05 which is half term in many (all?) parts of the country. There would be plenty of families down there that week, who plans this stuff??

Or perhaps fans could just say if their club was selling tickets for it.

Yes, he missed the point, you can only assume deliberately so. Leicester is just one other city in the country I can think of that is regularly hailed as a "sporting capital". The NSS exists because of DG & CM, not the BSPA. If the BSPA were capable why did it take 30+ years after the demise of Hyde Rd? The BSPA, as the custodian of the sport, should have many projects like this in the pipeline. Don't hold your breath for the next one.

It doesn't take a great leap of faith to imagine much jealousy within the BSPA ranks when DG & Mort, etc. managed to achieve a world class speedway stadium in one one of the biggest cities in country. Particularly when you get the impression most of them would actually struggle to put a polo mint track in a field.

Most of those "factors" can be attributed to successive inept promotion(s) though.

Looks like you're making the excellent point of having the NSS at Stoke! Well done I commend it to the house. ;-)

I actually meant bought it from the Ochiltrees. One of the fundamental issues with the sport in this country, that sees the death of many teams, is the stadium being shut down. The BSPA should have a policy of acquiring when the opportunity exists. It's not about bailing out failing promotions, it's about securing the future of the sport. The same principles apply to getting involved at Belle Vue, i.e. securing the sport.

If the BSPA had actually bought the stadium instead of Sandhu then none of this would have happened, and they would have had something approaching a National Speedway Stadium years before they actually did!

I would say a similar idea would allow airfences to be used again on the straights. It sounds as though it would stop the rider getting sucked in on the straights as used to happen.